My Favorite Four Letter Word

From time to time, I write a letter of appreciation to my husband on the blog. Not necessarily for you, but for him. Because I spend so much of my time working on the site, tinkering with the site, writing for the site, that I fear he feels abandoned sometimes, as I give the “one more minute” finger while I furiously try to finish a post.

So this post is a way to say thank you to him and to all the supportive folks who help us do what we want to do in this life. I can tell you that my life would not be as sweet without him in it.

I always write about how scared I was when I discovered I was pregnant, but I don’t talk about his reaction as much. Was he scared? Probably. But I didn’t know it. He didn’t show it. He was my rock.

From time to time he gets on my nerves. Any man will do that to ya. Particularly if they are as stubborn as my husband is. But I married him in spite of his flaws because he was really, really good to me. [Little known fact: Did you know that I proposed first to him? Yup, and he turned me down. Hilarious, right? (Not really. LOL)]

I love him and I hope it shows. We’ve reached a point in our relationship where even our arguments are funny and we can’t help but laugh at ourselves. Now that I understand what true love feels like, I see why so many people spend so long chasing after it, trying to get a taste of it. I feel like a better version of myself when we’re together. More confident, a bit more free and sassy. I don’t worry about my socks matching. I know I can fall asleep and drool on the pillow and he won’t think I’m any less sexy. (Well, maybe a little.)

This is the kind of love people told me about. And it feels better than expected.

Is it perfect? No. But it’s authentic. We’re closing in on 10 years together as a couple and for someone who is still a few years away from 30, that’s a significant chunk of my life. He met me when I was 18, a mere sliver of the woman I am now. He stuck with me and allowed me to grow, while not interfering negatively with my progress.

LOVE is my favorite four-letter word. It makes us better, it gives us confidence that we can grow and explore, it keeps us grounded. I can’t imagine life without it.